Formation for ministry in the Scottish Episcopal Church

Abstract

In his paper, written from the perspective of the Scottish Episcopal Church, Michael Fuller argues that attention to the formation of those called to authorised ministry in the church has never been more essential than at the present. The churches are facing challenges from within and without as they witness to the Christian faith in word and deed in twenty-first century Scotland. Traditional models of formation which, in the Anglican tradition, have involved candidates for ministry spending time together in learning communities, are now under acute pressure in terms both of financial viability and the fewer numbers called to full-time ministry. The necessity remains, however, for the provision of a fully validated programme that is pedagogically and academically sound. The goal is to provide a range of foundational competencies within the framework of a programme offering a system robust enough to include small student numbers dispersed across the whole of Scotland.